August 2008, Ellen LeCompte, Richmond USA
I just wanted to take a moment to thank you for the wonderful educational tour fo the Netherlands in August. Tough I had booked a few clients in Amsterdam in the past, Holland was not really on my rader screen - a destionation I would sell if requested, but not one I would typically suggest. Well, it is afe to say those days are over! What a wonderful country - and we only saw a small part of it! Amsterdam was much more interesting and diverse than I remembered it from a brief visit 40 years ago, Maastrichtand the South where fasinating, but I must confess that I lost my heart to The Hague!
As a Special Interest and Family Travel Specialist, the Hague hit all the buttons - architecture, history, art, Royalty, food, beach, shopping, hotel selection, knowledgeable guides and very easy for English-speaking visitors. I must see dozens of museums a year, but truly the Mauritshuis Museum was extraordiary! The guided (backstage) tour at the Panorama Mesdag Museum was amazing - we could have stayed there all afternoon! The miniature city Madurodam was charming and the Escher Museum was another treat. I am still not sure how you managed to have Prime Miniter drive by just as we entering the gates to the square on the fabylous walking tour.... As beach people, we were totally astonished (and trilled) by the boardwalk and all the fun cafes all along the way. All of this means that we will be following the progress of the proposed cruise perot very closely - what an amazing opportunity for our cruise clients and if the cruises start of end in the Hague, then we can really put together some great pre- and post cruise packages!
Meanwhile, as a direct result of the trip, we have already sent cliets to The Hague when they thought they wanted to stay in Amsterdam the entire time - and they have returned saying how much they loved it and glad that we instisted they go there for more than just a day! (It is so nice to be albe to say "I told you so!"
Again, thank you so much for all of your excelent planning and to all of your colleagues for their generous welcome - believe me - we will be back soon with clients in hand!
August 2008, Mary levine, Glencoe, IL, USA
I wanted to take a few minutes of your time to express to you how much I truly enjoyed my recent visit to Holland.
It was a wonderful eye opener for a first time visitor, such as myself. I feel that you gave us a true taste of Holland and only wanting more! Your knowledge, expertise and love of your homeland assures me that my clients will be very well taken care of while in your hands.
The specialty guides through out our week were equally "the best". I felt very welcomed by all
the hoteliers, guides, local business representatives and most of all by you and Miranda.
The sights were amazing, from the museums, caves, gardens (both public and private), evening entertainment, canal boat tour, to the "back stage" access at the concert hall and my favorite...
the Panorama Mesdag! I now know some history of Holland and have the confidence to sell it with no hesitation at all.
Thank you and Miranda for an exciting week in the Netherlands.
August 2008, Yolanda Essig, GIG Harbor, WA, USA
I want to thank you for your wonderful study tour of Holland. It definitely gave us a chance to see al the sites and experiences Holland has to offer beyond the city of Amsterdam. The hotels we stayed at in Amsterdam, The Hague, Maastricht and Scheveningen were amazing! I truly felt I got a much better understanding and overview of the Netherlands, and it will make it much easier for me to speak to clients about traveling to your country. Thank you again.
August 2008, Frank Robinsen, Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden, Virginia USA
Edwin, Thank you for all the planning and thought you invested in the 2008 Holland Study Tour. It was extraordinarily comprehensive and diverse. I was prepared for the charm and history of Amsterdam and for the awe of the master artwork. I was delightfully surprised by so much more.
First, the extraordinary architecture and its pristine condition at every destination. Seeing 13th to 17th century buildings at every turn, still being actively used, was thrilling. Additionally, seeing the adaptive reuse of such buildings, as at the Kruisherenhotel, was inspiring, and demonstrated to me a pride of heritage and creativity I have seldom seen elsewhere. So much of Maastricht reflected this incredible marriage of the old and the new - beautifully blending to create urban space, which is both highly livable and aesthetically stimulating.
Secondly, the diversity of destinations and wealth of content was outstanding. From the beauty and pleasure on music in the Concertgebouw to the fascination of Aalsmeer and its scale and mechanized efficiency! We saw so many dimensions of the Netherlands. The WWII history we absorbed through the cave visits was both moving and astounding. I am almost embarrassed to admit about how much I did not know!
The wonderful visit to Palace ‘t Loo was almost indulgent in its visual beauty, inside the Palace as well as in the restored gardens. The gardens equaled anything I have seen in France and England.
The Hague is known in the US as a modern, international city for its courts of justice, but we did not expect the blending of a royal city and medieval city, and beach resort, as well! And the charm of Delft! There is so much that should not be missed.
The Panorama was such a unique experience and artistically fascinating. The intimacy of the museums such as Mauritshuis and the Escher, along with the excellent interpretation by the guides were other highlights. And, you offered us such a selection of hotels and restaurants.
The compactness of Holland and efficient transportation minimizes travel time while optimizing experience for the traveler. The ease in which the Dutch transition to English from the multiple languages spoken also makes the country and the culture so very accessible.
Thank you for such a thorough and generous introduction to your country. We will be back - joyfully! Frank Robinson
April, 2008, Mr. and Mrs. Hansen, West Des Moines, IA, USA
Mary and I want to thank you once again for your hospitality and friendliness during our week long private tour with you. We enjoyed traveling throughout the Netherlands and visiting the many sites that are uniquely Holland. It was also a treat to visit the towns from which Mary's family originated. Your courtesy and attention to details were superb, and the pride in your native country was continuously on display. Thanks for making our 40th wedding anniversary trip a special experience. We would highly recommend your services.
July 2007, Mr. and Mrs. Cafferata from Evanston, IL, USA
My wife and I decided that we'd like to rent an apartment in Amsterdam and live the life of urban Europeans for a month. We shopped the Internet for an apartment, but it all seemed so chancy. Then it occurred to us to ask our travel agent, Kitty Baker at Protravel International. She got in touch with Edwin Groeneweg from The Dutch Travel advisor, who found an apartment for us that was better than we'd ever imagined.
Our apartment was a large, modern penthouse located in one of Amsterdam's best neigborhoods, just a few doors from the mayor's house, we learned. And, in addition to all of its comforts, it offered a view as well as the use of one of the most beautiful formal gardens in Amsterdam. The apartment was in a 17th century canal-side mansion which currently functions as a small museum as well as a place for business and social events. Within a few blocks of our apartment were all the amenities for living in Amsterdam, grocery stores, dry cleaner, flower market (for buying fresh tulips), lots of superb restaurants as well as an electronics store taht had the right connectors for all our needs.
While our main goal for our time in Amsterdam was to live the urban European life, we also wanted to see interesting places outside the city. Edwin provided us with lots of options and was our personal guide for these tours. One tour was to the Kroller Muller Museum in Otterlo, a fantastic museum located in the middle of a beautiful wooded park and housing an incredible collection of early Van Gogh's. If it hadn't been for Edwin, we certainly would have missed this amazing place and several other wonderful secrets of the Netherlands. So if you're looking to rent an apartment in the Netherlands or just want ot see the sights, contact Edwin. We simply can't thank him enough for making our trip so successful.
Group March 13 - 19 2007 Dear Paull, I want to thank you so very much indeed for putting us in touch with Edwin at The Dutch Travel Advisor. His arrangements for the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts tour (Dutch Treats" which went in early March were absolutely wonderful! The VMFA group leader has led tours around the world for several years and was glowing in her compliments. From the earliest planning stages to the few inevitable hiccups that occurred during the tour (including an elderly guest slipping in the bath tub) Edwin was always cheerful, professional and on top of everything. Just as with British Heritage Tours, the hotels, meals, transport, guides and special visits were all top notch. I look forward to working with Edwin again in the future.
Email from the group leader: Edwin, we are all back safely in the US and with wonderful memories of a grand stay in the Netherlands. Thank you for an outstanding tour and for all the extras that you included to make it so special. My pictures are great and a real testament to the outstanding itinerary you planned for my group from VMFA.
Individual tour December 29, 2004 - January first 2005.
A nice thank you card from Brian and Lisa
"Thank you for going the extra mile to make our trip to Holland so special. We enjoyed meeting you. We'll be back soon"
Group May 5th - May 11th 2004.
A nice e-mail from one of the guests.
Hartelijk dank! (Thank you!)-- for a wonderful time in Amsterdam and you made us feel so welcome and taken-care-of. Everyone was so pleased with all we did, and for your constant and expert guidance, and for the timing and inclusion of so many things to do and see. It was the experience of a lifetime.
Of the many wonderful day-trips we made from Amsterdam: not to be missed the Kröller-Müller Museum and gardens located in "De Hoge Veluwe", the huge national park/preserve just outside the charming town of Otterloo. The drive through this small town gave me a chance to see how the importance given to village life in a mid-20th century town echoes the lines, look, and values of Amsterdam: brick houses, orange-red tile roofs, small front gardens where not a single dead leaf seems to be left on the ground. The Kröller-Müller Museum boasts a large collection of Van Gogh paintings arranged to help me understand the shift in this artist's work from dark to light, as well as paintings by some of his and some of our own contemporaries. The museum-as-building is also amazing on its own, as an example of modern architecture and public space. And then we walked outside to walk around in the surrounding gardens. We enjoyed the larger picture: the great variety of contemporary sculptures set among grassy lawns and thick stands of rhododendron bushes. I saw Van Gogh paintings here as in no other place. And I admired the spaciousness and design of the museum and the park settings.
We also did a side trip to the Keukenhof (the kitchen gardens), the centre of Holland's tulip industry, as an essential complement to the architecture and art of Amsterdam. Carefully groomed gardens with myriads of tulips seen from walks along tree-lined paths (perfect, straight rows of beeches) and we had the chance to visit the pavilions, featuring other flowers (roses, orchids), and it captivate me by the sheer mass and brilliance of colour.
The bus ride across the Haarlem polder, and seeing so much of the city of Amsterdam, helped me appreciate so much more how the Dutch constructed this amazing city and country, and helped me appreciate Dutch ingenuity and determination so much more. There is so much to tell about this trip! I felt I learned so much about the city, and how it was built-- and I loved seeing the gardens behind the houses -- something one never sees or imagines from just looking at postcards.
And I loved walking through all the streets and being able to really look at all the variety of the houses -- and all the houseboats! And I thought the last night Canal Cruise was the perfect ending, bringing our group together over a wonderful meal and enjoying the view of the streets we had walked. I realized just how much we did, and the great variety of things we did, and what a well-planned trip it was: besides the streets and houses and canals and canal boats and gardens and last-night canal cruise.
I will always remember getting to see the Vermeer "Milkmaid" and "Little Street." Two such very small things-- but they have a magic! If I had to pick one painting in the world: it would be Vermeer's "The Milkmaid" as the one I love the most. The "Little Street" -- is almost as calming... and after walking through the streets of Amsterdam as we did, it was more wonderful. And of course, Rembrandt! His portraits -- my favourites. Like Vermeer, Rembrandt's paintings have a magic glow -- light! I think that is what most good painting is about: either the light behind/inside/around faces, or the light of landscapes.
Holland is a very cared-for and loved country-- that is the main impression that all the art and the architecture conveys! You are lucky to live there! Phyllis McGuinness
